Have your child mix several different kinds of mud. At least one mud
batch should be made from sand. Another should combine soil and dried
leaves or grass. Let your child improvise his own mixtures as well. Pour
some of each mixture into a brick mold. Label each mold, noting what
each mud “recipe” each contains.

In addition, put a little of
each mud mixture in a plastic sandwich bag. Label the bag and staple it
to a page in the notebook. On each page, leave space so you can write
down your child’s predictions and results for that mixture.

Predict

Ask your child to anticipate how each type of dirt mixture will turn out.

• How do you think the mud will change?

• Which recipe will make the hardest, toughest bricks?

If
your child is reluctant to make predictions, help her think up several
alternative scenarios. The point is not to create a contest about who's
predictions are correct. Rather, you are trying to get your child to
think about the future and to understand how the experiment will allow
her to test predictions.

Help your child record her predictions in the notebook.

Check

Leave bricks to dry in the sun for at least 2 days. Then try popping
them out of their molds. Let your child play with his bricks.